The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-04-29
NATuRAL-GAs PROSPECTS.


Mr.. Mansfield general agent of the Standard
Oil Company, or as it should now be called.
the Indiana Natural-gas Company, says:
.,The price of gas which we furnish for
heating purposes will be governed by the
law of supply and demand. That is to say, /
the price of coal and wood is now and will be
a competitor. as well as other gas companies,
and we should have to furnish fuel cheaper
than wood or coal can be purchased or we
will have no customers" In making this
statement Mr.. Mansfield shows the DISPOSE
ton of conservative business man, and
furnishes an anchor which those of our peo-
pie who find themselves about to sail up.n
the air will do we'll to lay hold of. There are
indications of disposition to exaggerate the
benefits of natural gas for speculative pur-
poses, and good many people seem quite
willing to assist in inaugurating a fictitious
boom. Now there are booms and booms. A
healthy, natural boom is blessing but an
artificial. fictitious one is a curse. The re-
mark of Mr.. Mansfield suggests one
or two points which it would be well
to keep in mind. In saying that
the price of gas fuel will be governed
by the law of supply and demand, Mr.. Mans
field states natural law of trade which bears
in all directions, and to which natural gas is
subject alike with everything else Natural
gas cannot change the natural laws of trade.
1t is not Aladdin's lamp, nor the philosophers
stone nor Midas's gift, to turn everything it
touches into gold. 1t is simply a new fuel,
and presumably cheap fuel. The question
of its practical value and benefit depends on
its cheapness, and this, as Mr.. Mansfield
rightly says, is governed by the law of supply
and demand. This involves the extent of the
supply, the cost of getting it here, the cost of
distribution, and the amount consumed. A
very important fact to be remembered is that
the gas is to be piped "a considerable distance
AS it now looks, about twenty miles. This
will necessarily add to its cost. The element
of uncertainty of supply must also be taken
into account, for that, as yet, is conjectural.
If other deposits equal to that at Noblesville
should be developed as near or nearer the city
than that, the supply question would be SIM
plifed, and if two or three companies should
enter the field, and compete in pip
ing gas to the city, consumers would
reap the benefit Of competition. If coal oper-
OF nd Of ho
unite and make considerable reduction in
the price of coal, the price of gas would have
to come down in the same proportion. All
these considerations enter into the law of
supply and demand. Any considerable reduc-
ton in the price of fuel to manufacturers and
private consumers will be benefit, but it is
unwise to predict or expect much greater
reduction than is likely to occur. The Jour
nal is informed that in some cities supplied
by pipe lines the reduction on the former
price of fuel has been as much as 80 or 40 per
cent, and in others not more than 10 or Is
per cent. This shows considerable varia-
ton, dependent, of course, on the crcum-
stances ana cOnGlClOnS ABOVE alluOeQ TO. IL
shows, also, in general way, about what we
may expect from the introduction of the new
fuel. A reduction of %, or even 20 per cent,
would be an important item to manufacturers
and consumers generally. But we do not know
that the reduction would be so much, or even
half so much, and in the absence of definite
information on this point, or even a basis for
! intelligent conjecture, there would seem to be
no occasion for people to lose their heads, or
| go crazy in contemplating prospects that may
never be realized. We have not got the gas
yet, though we are sure to have it. When we
| do get it there will be reduction in the price
of fuel; but nobody can tell how great re-
| duction. ANY reduction whatever will so far
benefit the city. but it is the height of unwis-
dom to magnify these benefits in advance be-
| yond all reasonable expectation, and to make
sheer uncertainty the basis of wild specula-
ton. Let us 60 slow until we get> the gas,
and then we shall know better where we
stand. Swapping jack-knives does not create
wealth.